Distributors' Year-Ahead Outlook Dips

Wholesale distributors are less confident about their companies' short-and long-term prospects, according to a recent survey by Arthur Andersen LLP, Chicago. In the ongoing study, which the international accounting and consulting firm previously conducted in conjunction with the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), Washington, D.C., Arthur Andersen found that its index of distributors' confidence about the year ahead (July 1997 to July - June 1998), compared to the past year, fell to 106.2 from 107.6 recorded in the second quarter of 1997. The index operates on a base of 100, recorded in the second quarter of 1991.